Improvement in bottle-stoppering machines



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADDISON M. BACON, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOTTLE-STOPPERING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,022, dated December30, 1879; application filed November 7, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON M. BAcoN, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and usefulImprovement in Bott-le-Stoppcrin g Machines; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had lo the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved machine.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail view.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each.

The fitting of glass stoppers in bottles the mouths of which are ground(known in the trade as stoppering) has heretofore been done by fillingthe bottle with sand and water, securing the stopper in a revolvingchuck or snap, and grinding the surfaces of the bottle mouth and stopperby holding the bottle from revolving while the stopper revolves in itsmouth, and permitting a small stream of the sand and water to pass outbetween the said surfaces, and thereby supply the grinding material. Thesand and water are permitted to pass between the grinding-surfaces bythe workman giving to the bottle which he holds in his hand a slightreciprocating motion on the stopper, which permits the liquid grindingmaterial to flow out slowly. This grinding operation is continued untilthe stopper will enter and fit tightly within the mouth of the bottle.The work, being performed entirely by hand, except the revolving of thechuck which carries the stopper, is necessarily slow, andcorrespondingly expensive.

My invention has for its object the performance of this work entirely bya machine, and it efl'ects a great saving of time and labor, and gives amore uniform product.

I will now describe my invention, so that others skilled in the art maymake and use it.

My improved machine has a frame-work, a, of suitable construction, forsupporting the working parts. Mounted upon bearings b, having caps batone end of the frame, is the revolving shaft, 0, of the stopper chuckor snap d. This shaft is driven by a belt and pulley, 0', or by othersuitable means. Mounted in a box or bearin g at the other end of themachine is a snap, c, for holding the bottle g, the said snap havingpivoted jaws e, for grasping the bottle, and a sliding spring-collar, 0mounted on the shaft a back of the head 0", and operating in slots c inthe arms of the jaws, to open or close the jaws, according to whether itis advanced or retracted on the shaft. At the same end of the machine isa lever, h, pivoted at h, and having a pivotal connection at one end tothe snap e, and at the other end to a bar or rod, i, which extends alongthe rear side of the machine, being mounted loosely in the bearings 43,so as to slide therein, its movement being limited in one direction bythe stop I, and in the other by the spring-stop on.

The stopper n is centered and held in the chuck d by the pivoted dogs d,the gripingfaces of which conform to the shape of the stopper -to beheld by them. Each of the dogs at is provided with an arm, (1 which ispivoted at 0 to a rod, 0, which, in turn, is pivoted at 0 to the slidingcollar 1). The collar 1) slides on the shaft 0, and is pressed forwardby the spring q, so as to cause the dogs cl to grasp the stopper n. Itis thrown back to release the stopper by means of the lever 9" operatingon it by the forked arm 1* engaging with the groove 19 in said collar.On the shaft 0 is a pinion, t, meshing in gear-wheel u on thecounter-shaft a. At the inner end of the counter-shaft u is an arm, 10,which acts on the cam 6 and causes the rod 15 to move backward andcompress the spring m between the stop m and slotted post m At anyconvenient place is the standard 1), sustaining the hopper c, which, bythe tube a, supplies sand and water for the grinding opera-tion.

It is evident that the construction of the snaps which hold the bottleand stopper may be varied in many ways, as also the devices for openingthe j aws, and the devices for giving the rotatory and reciprocatingmotions to the snaps. The same kind of device as is used for opening thejaws of the snaps d may be applied for opening the jaws of the snap a.If desired, both of the snap c and 01 may be caused to rotate andreciprocate, or both ro tate and one reciprocate, or vice versa; but theconstruction I have described is more simple and efficient.

The operation of my machine is as follows: The bottle and stopper aremounted in their respective snaps and the machine set in operation. Thesand and water are supplied to the surface of stopper by the tube '0 ofthe hopper. This can only be done during the retraction of the bottle orstopper, which is effected by the arm to and cam i When g1 inding, thestopper enters the bottle as far as may be, being held there bythe'elastic pressure of the spring q. The grinding goes on until thestopper is perfectly fitted into the bottle. As the bottles and theirstoppers are not always made true, I make the snaps somewhat loose intheir forward bearings, so that they may not be strained by theirregular rotation of the articles. If the snap e is caused to revolve,its shaft should be round.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination of a snap for holding the stopper and a snap forholding the bottle,

one or both of which has a rotating motion, and one or both a limitedreciprocating motion, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination of a snap for holding the stopper, a snap for holdingthe bottle, one or both of which has a rotating motion, and one or botha limited reciprocating motion, and a device for supplying sandand'water to the grinding-surfaces, substantially as and for thepurposes described.

3. The combination of the pivoted lever h,

the rod 17, with its spring and cam, and the arm w, to give a quick,short, reciprocating motion to the snap, substantially as and for thepurposes described.

In testimony whereof I, the said ADDISON M. BACON, have hereunto set myhand. ADDISON M. BACON.

Witnesses:

T. B. KERR, JAMES H. PORTE.

